George albebt lyon



DeCL I- I I 923.

-- G. A. mam

VEHICLE BUFFER Original'Filed Aug. 30, 1921 Patented Dec. 4, 1923.

UNITED STATES GEORGE ALBERT LYON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

VEHICLE Application filed August 30, 1821, Serial No. 496,823.

2 '0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GEORGE ALBERT LYON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have made a certain new and useful Invention Relating to Vehicle Buffers, of which the following is a specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates especially to resilient strip buffers or bumpers for automobiles or other vehicles in which the buffer front comprises several stripshaving vertically displaced contact portions which are preferably throughout their entire extent held in edge overlapping stiffening engagement, so as to minimize tipping or twisting of these front strips under collision conditions. When as is desirable with chrome nickel or other special alloy spring steel, the buffer front strips are one quarter to fiveeight-11s of an inch or so thick and about two and one half to three and one half inches wide more or less, the upwardly or downwardly displaced contact portions of the strips may overlap at their edges to the X- tent of a quarter or a half inch or so and still give a vertical width of five or siX inches to the buffer front. Such edge overlapping front strips which produce a buffer front without front openings or spaces as seen from the front of the buffer is considerably stiffer and stronger for this reason, and is considerablybetter adapted for the relatively wide thin strips which are desirable when such special alloy stiffer steels are used. The buffer front may be resiliently supported in any suitable way as by forming the front strips withintegral end loops and attachingmembers as in the Lyon buffers of the type covered by Patent No. 1,1982% of September 12, 1916, or if desired the front strips may be formed with end loops and in turned connecting portions to which separate attaching arms or members may be ad justably or permanently secured. A still stronger type of mounting of such buffer fronts may be formed by connecting therewith a rear or auxiliary impact receiving strip or portion which may be formed separate or integral with the front strips or contact portions of the buffer, so as to fora duplex buffer front which may be connected to or supported from the vehicle in any suitable way as by adjustably or permanently BUFFER.

Renewed t ctober connected spring strips or other attaching arms.

in the accompanying drawing which shows in a somewhat diagrammatic way a number of illustrative embodiments of this invention,

Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4: and 7 are front perspective views showing different illustrative buffers; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse sectional views taken along the lines 55 and 6-6 of Fig. l.

The buffer front is formed of two or more strips or plates of spring steel or other resilient material which may be bent up or otherwise formed into the desired shape, and in most cases, it is desirable to form the buffer front of spring steel strip one quarter to three-eighths of an inch thick or so and about two inches to three and one half inches wide, depending on the stiffness and strength of the stock used and the particular service required. As indicated in "Fig. 1 the buffer front may comprise two front strips one of which may be the advanced front strip, may comprise the impact receiving portion 2 and upwardly bent or displaced contact portion 7 connected therewith and with the other front contact portion 10 by the bent or curved portions 8, 9. y The end connecting portion on this strip may thus cooperate with the front impact receiving portion 1 of the other or rear buffer front strip which may if desired he of similar relatively thin wide steel strip such for instance, as one quarter by three and a quarter inches alloy steel. This rear front strip may comprise the upwardly bent or displaced contact portion 14 having the bent portions 12, 13 between the same, and the portions 1 and 15 which may if desired be substantially in line with the lateral imp-act receiving portions of the buffer front, the end connecting portion 16 fitting behind the portion 2 of the other strip to which it may be adjustably or perniianently connected or clamped as by the enclosing clamping or connecting device 17. similar clamping devices being used to adjustably connect the connecting portions 1 and 11 so that lateral adjustment of these parts can thus take place throughout a considerable range. If desired also a central. connecting device such 18 may ie used to securely connect the central portions of these buffer front strips and hold them in vertical alignment and also in substantial contact which prevents any possibility of rattling as well as somewhat strengthening them under e dision conditions. 'As seen in Fig. l the vertically displaced contact portions of the buffer front have edge overlapping stiffening portions which engage each other throughout a quarter to one half inch or so as at 73, so that under collision conditions the advanced buffer front strip has ample bearing contact on the rear strip so that the buffer front is 7 very substantially stiffened-and strengthened thereby. In this instance the buffer front is formed with integral end loops and attaching members 3, 4 and 5, 6 to facilitate connection with the automobil and also provide still'further resilient cushioning action in addition to that provided by the resiliently yielding butter front. i

In the illustrative buffer shown in Fig. 2 similar end loops and attaching members are indicated as formed integral wit. the two bufferfront strips which are employed and which comprise the lateral impact receiving portions 1, 2. In this case each of the buffer frontstrips may be both upwardly and downwardly bent or displaced with respect to the lateral impact receiving por tions or connected end .loops and this may be accomplished by forming adjacent the impact receiving member or portion 2, the upwardly bent or displaced contact portion 24 joined thereto by the bent portion 25. The strip adjacent the central part of the buffer may be bent down at 26, so as to form a downwardly bent or displaced contactportion 27 somewhat below the lateral im- .pact receiving portions and joined to the end connecting portion 29 by the bend 28.

The other or rear front strip may have the lateral impact receiving portion 1 and con nected upwardly displaced contact portion 31 having at each end the bends 32, 33, the latter connecting with the downwardly displaced contact portion 34 which merges by the bend 35 into the end connecting'portion In this way the buffer front may have a vertical width of considerably over one and one half times the width of the front strips and yet be provided-throughout this front impact receiving portion with edge overlapping stiffening portionssuch as 73 to increase the stiffness and strength of the buffer front. The end connecting portions adjacent the strip ends 30, 37 may be permanently or adjustably connected as by the on closing clips or clamping devices 17, so that ample lateral adjustment can be secured withoutlosing the decided advantage of these edge overlapping stiffening portions of the strips.

Fig. 3 shows another illu. e buffe front which may indicated {iiSz' be formed with integral attaching end loop-s and attaching members to be clamped or secured to the automobile. The front impact receiving portion 2 of one of the front strips which is preferably relatively thin and wide, may be formed with an upward bend 39 and connected upwardly bent or displaced con tact portion 38 which is preferably formed on the advanced buffer front strip in most cases. The end connecting portion &1 of this strip adjacent the bend 40 may be brought down into line with the cooperating lateral impact receiving portion 1 of the other strip to which it may be adjustably or otherwise clamped or connected as by the clamp 17 adjacent the strip end 42. The rear buffer front strip may have the downwardly displaced contact portion 43 joined to the lateral connecting portions 1 and do by the bends id and .45, the corresponding clamping device 17 being arranged as indicated adjacent the end 47 of this strip. Thus considerable lateral adjustment of the buffer front and connected end loops may take place and still maintain the, desired edge overlapping engagement of the front strip as at 73.

Fig. 4 shows another arrangement in which the advanced buffer front strip may comprise the lateral impact receiving portion 52 and connected upwardly bent or displaced contact portion -l8 which may he carried across the buffer front substantially throughout the distance between the connected attaching members or fame members of the automobile at a distance several inches above the end loops or lateral portions of the strip. The curved or bent portions 49 may be formed adjacent each end of this raised contact portion d8 and the connecting portion 51 may be formed adjacent the free end of this strip, so as to be substantially in line if desired with the cooperating connecting portion of the other or rear buffer front strip which may have the lateral or impact receiving portion 53. This rear buffer front strip may be carried across the front of the buffer at substantially the same level so as to form the contact portion 54 and the end connecting portion adjacent the point 55. These cooperating connecting portions at each side of the buffer front may be clan'iped or connected in any suitable way as by the connecting bolts or devices 23 passing through these strips and securely connecting them. Also if desired central connecting and aligning devices may be used between. these lateral connecting means or bolts. For this purpose the central enclosing connecting device 19 may be used extending around these bufler front strips -18 and 54 as indicated in Fig. (3 and tightly hold and clamp them together in connection. if desired with an aligning connecting bolt such as 20, which may pass through the clip and through holes such as 21 in one or both of the strips themselves adjacent their edge overlapping portions 73. Also if desired, instead of or in addition to such a central connecting device intermediate aligning connecting bolts such as '72 may be used as indicated in Fig. 5 on any of these forms of buffer fronts, preferably passing through a hole such as 74: in the advanced buffer front strip and having aligning engagement withthe other strip so as to promote the vertical alignment of the strips as Well as to securely hold them together. As indicated the front strips may be formed with integral end loops 3, 5 and with inturned connecting ends or portions 56 to which the connecting portions 58 of the spring strip or other attaching arms or members 59 may be adjustably or otherwise clamped or connected as by the onclosing clips or clamping devices 22 ad acent the ends 57 of these portions.

Fig. 7 illustrates a duplex buffer front construction which may be used with any of these forms of buffer front and may comprise the rear or auxiliary impact receiving portion or strip 60 between the end loops 3 and. 5 of the buffer front. The attaching members may be secured in any suit able way to the buffer front as by being adjusta-bly or otherwise clamped or connected to connecting portions 61 of this rear memher as by the clips 22, extending more or less around the same to bolt thereto the con necting ends or portions 58 of the attaching arms 59. If desired the buffer front strips may be integral with this rear impact receiving portion (50 and may comprise the front impact receiving portion 52 extending across the buffer front to or adjacent the center thereof as the substantially level strip 62, which may be bent up at the point to form the upwardly arched or bent contact portion 64 on this advancec buffer front strip. To the right this strip may have the bent portion 65 and end connecting portion 67 substantially in line wlth the cooperating connecting portion 58 to which it may be bolted or otherwise connected as by the round headed connecting bolt 28. The other-or rear front strip may have the contact portion 68 substantially on the same level as its lateral connecting portion 53, and then may have the upwardly arched or bent portions 68, 69 and 70 terminating in the end connecting portion 71 which may be substantially in line with and bolted to the portion 52 as by the bolt These buffer front strips thus have ample width contact portions and yet have a greater or less edge overlapping stiffening engagement throughout their central portions, so that there are no front openings or spaces and consequent weakening of the buffer.

This invention has been described in connection with a number of illustrative forms, proportions, parts, arrangements, i'naterials methods of connection and use, to the details of which disclosure the invention is not of course to be limited, since what is claimed as new and what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. The automobile buffer comprising two relatively thin, wide spring steel strips, each comprising an attaching member, an end loop, and lateral impact receiving connecting portions adapted to be arranged sub stantially in line with the frame members of the automobile, each of said strips between said connecting portions being both upwardly and downwardly bent to form vertically displaced contact portions which throughout are in edge overlapping stiffening engagement with the cooperating contact portions of the other strip to form an increased width central contact face with out front openings and enclosing connect ing devices engaging said connecting portions and holding said contact portions in adjusted osition.

2. The automobile buffer comprising two relatively thin, wide spring steel strips, each comprising an attaching member, an end loop, and lateral impact receiving connecting portions, each of said strips be tween said connecting portions being bent to form vertically displaced contact por tions which throughout are in edge over lapping strengthening cooperation with the cooperating contact portions of the otl'ier strip to form an increased width central contact face without front openings and connecting devices engaging said connecting portions.

3. The automobile buffer comprising two wide spring steel strips, each; comprising an end loop, and separated lateral impact receiving connecting portions, said strips between said connecting portions being vortically displaced to form vertically displaced contact portions which throughout are at least in edge overlapping stiffening cooperation with the corresponding contact por tions of the other strip to form an increased width central contact face without front openings, connecting devices engaging said connecting portions and holding said contact portions in vertically rigid cooperatioi'i, and connecteiil attachin members adapted to support the buffer.

The automobile buffer comprising two wide spring steel strips, each comprising separated lateral impact receiving connecting portions, said strips liOUYGGD SHld connecting portions being vertically displaced to form vertically displaced contact portions which tl'iroughout are at least in ed c overlapping stiffening cooperation with the corresponding contact portions of the other tically displaced contact portions which ing said contact portions in position.

throughout are at least in edge-overlapping stilfening cooperation with the cooperating contact portions to form an increased width central contact face without substantial front openings and connecting deviceshold- 6. The automobile buffer compr ting a plurality of relatively flat steel strips, and comprising end loops and lateral connecting portions, at least one of said strips being vertically displaced to form vertically displaced contact portions which throughout are at least in edge overlapping stiii'cning cooperation with the cooperating contact portions to form an increased width central contact face without substantial front opcnings, and connecting devices holding said contact portions in position.

7. The automobile buffer front formed of a plurality of resilient steel st :5 having a thickness of about one quarter to threeeighths of an inch and a width of almut tvo and one half to three and one half inches,

and comprising end loops and adjacent substantially aligned lateral connecting portions and intermediate vertically displaced con tact portions considerably increasing the vertical Width of the central contact portion of the buffer front while said strips are at least in edge overlapping stiffening engagement throughoutsaid contact portion a d Without front openings, and connec a means adjustal'ily connecting said lateral connecting portions and intermediate portions of said strips. I

8. The automobile butter front formed of a plurality of resilient steel strips having a thickness of about one quarter to threecigliths of an inch ands. width of about two and one half to three and one half inches,

half inches, and comprising end loops and substan lly aligned lateral connecting portions and intermediate verrally displaced contact portions considerably increasing the vertical width of the central contact portion ot the buffer while said strips are at least in edge overlapping stiffening engagement throughout said central contact portion, and connecting means connecting said lateral connecting portions.

10. The automobile bufi'cr front formed of a pair of resilient steel strips rnd compris ing' endloops and lateral connecting portions and interinci'liate vertically lisplaccd contact portions considerably increasing the vertical wilth of the central contact portion of the butler front while said strips are at least in edp overlapping stiili'ening engagement throughout said central contact portion, and connecting means connecting said lateral connrcting portions.

11. The automobile butler front formed of a pair of resilient steel strips and conr prising lateral connecting portions and intermediate vertically displaced contact portions considerably increasing the vertial Width of the central contact portion of the buffer front while said strips are at least in edge overlapping stiffening engagement throughout said central contact portion, and c nincctiug means connecting said strips.

'12. The vehicle butler trout formed of a plurality of resilient steel strips and comprising substantially aligned lateral connecting portions and intermediate contact portions displaced up and down with respe t to said connecting portions and considerably increasing the vertical width of the central contact portion of the buffer front while said strips are a least in edsre overlapping stiffening" cooperation and without front openings througluuit said central contact portion. and connecting means adjustably connecting said latcra. connecting portions.

1;. The vehicle buffer front formed of a plurality of resilient steel strips and comprising substantially aligned lateral coni'iccting. portions and intermediate ontact portions (llSpltLQtl vertically with respect to said connectinej portions and considerably iucrcasing the vertical width of the central contact portion of the butler front While said stri s are at least in edge overlapping! stiffening cooperation throughout said ccn"' l contact portion. and connecting means co ice-tin; said lateral commotion poi ions.

1.. The vehicl butler front formed of a ality of re nt steel strips and oininc; lateral connecting portions and in termediate contact portions di placed vertically with respect to the ends of the buffer front and considerably increasing the vertical width of the central con act portion ltltl lltl 

